{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Gut Check, Next Step","description":"26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (09\/27\/26) I don\u2019t like mornings. I\u2019m not a morning person, and I never wake up happy. I have a sleep app that asks me to rate how I wake up: angry red, \u201cblah\u201d yellow, or happy green. After years of using it, I\u2019ve never once chosen green. I\u2019m permanently yellow. But as a kid, there were mornings when I absolutely would have chosen green: waking up to hear, \u201cIt\u2019s a snow day! No school!\u201d Or Dad waking you up for deer hunting. Those were green-face mornings. But when Dad woke you up because there was work to do? Definitely red. In today\u2019s Gospel, a father tells his two sons to go work in the vineyard. The first says, \u201cI will not,\u201d but later changes his mind and goes. The second says, \u201cYes, sir,\u201d but never goes. Jesus makes the point clear: words matter, but actions reveal our hearts. And if we\u2019re honest, I think most of us already know what God is asking us to do. That\u2019s the Holy Spirit\u2014the spiritual gut-check. So: What\u2019s God asking you to do right now? Maybe it\u2019s calling someone you\u2019ve been avoiding. Forgiving someone. Asking forgiveness. Going to confession. Making time for prayer. Being kinder to someone who gets under your skin. Giving up a habit or sin you keep excusing. Reaching out to someone who\u2019s lonely. Or simply taking the next step toward becoming the person God is calling you to be. The good news is that a bad beginning doesn\u2019t have to mean a bad ending. The first son said no, but he changed his mind and went. And even when we say yes, the road won\u2019t always be easy. There will be obstacles and crosses. That doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ve failed. We just keep working in the vineyard. Every time we pray the Our Father, we say, \u201cThy will be done.\u201d Let\u2019s not just say it. Let\u2019s do it. So here\u2019s the gut-check: What\u2019s your next step? Whatever the Father is asking of you\u2014go do it. Because this life is our Father\u2019s vineyard.   ","author_name":"Anchored In The Lord","author_url":"http:\/\/anchoredinthelord.org","html":"